Foster Care for youth with elevated needs is a foster care program designed for the youth who has identifiable and documented moderate or serious emotional and/or behavioral needs. Such a youth requires intensive and individualized intervention to succeed in a community-based family setting and to achieve their goal of permanency. Resource providers of youth with elevated needs have received specific training in addition to Specialized Training Assessment Resources and Support (STARS) pre-service training to enable them to work with youth with elevated needs.

Placements for youth with elevated needs neither are emergency placements nor are they immediate placements. These placements are transitional placement resources to prepare youth to function adequately in a less restrictive environment and or a permanent home. It is not intended to be a long-term or permanent placement resource. A selection/screening team must evaluate the youth’s needs. A pre-placement phase is essential, meaning that the youth should visit the home prior to being placed to determine if the placement is an appropriate fit for the youth. ICPC resource providers are not eligible for elevated needs placements.

The resource licensing worker will notify the elevated needs level B resource parent regarding access to purchase medical, dental, and vision insurance. The worker will inform the resource parent that the insurance company will provide enrollment information.

Characteristics of a Youth with Elevated Needs
Youth with elevated needs require greater structure, supervision, and are less able to assume responsibility for their daily care. These youth have typically experienced multiple out-of-home placements.

Youth appropriate for Level A fall into one of two categories:

• Youth presently in a residential setting who may be moved to a less intensive setting, but not to a traditional resource home or to their parents’ home; or
• Youth who lack a viable placement in a traditional resource home and because of their presenting problems would be placed in a residential setting unless an available Level A resource home can be found.

Presenting problems displayed by the Level A candidate may include the following:

• Behaviors which if not modified could result in the youth being designated as a status offender
• History of irresponsible or inappropriate sexual behavior, which has resulted in the need for extraordinary supervision
• Threatening, intimidating, or destructive behavior which is demonstrated by multiple incidents over a period of time
• Problems of defiance when dealing with authority figures
• Significant problems with peer relations
• Significant problems at school that affect academic achievement or social adjustment
• Significant problems with lying, stealing, or manipulating
• Significant problems of temper control
• Mild substance abuse related problems
• Oppositional behavior which contributes to placement disruptions and inability to function productively with peers, parent figures, birth family, etc.
• Any of above behaviors, coupled with medical problems
• Any of above behaviors displayed by one or more youth of a sibling group, qualifying the entire sibling group for placement together, if appropriate. However, not all youth would be eligible for the Level A maintenance rate.

Youth appropriate for Level B have serious emotional and/or behavior problems that require the 24-hour availability of a highly skilled Level B resource parent who is capable of assuming the role of primary change agent. These youth:

• Because of their presenting problems would be placed in a level III or above residential treatment facility or psychiatric hospital;
• Have been discharged from a residential treatment facility or psychiatric hospital and who are unable to function in a traditional resource home.

Presenting problems displayed by the Level B candidate may include the following:

• History of suicide or currently having suicidal thoughts, statements and/or gestures
• Affective disorders
• Attention Deficit Disorder
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Eating disorder
• Panic disorders
• Fears/phobias
• Obsessive/Compulsive Disorders
• Oppositional Defiant Disorders
• Depression/withdrawal
• Dissociative behaviors, blank out, pass out, seizure
• Anger/rage
• History of fire setting
• Destructive of property
• Failure to form emotional attachments
• Multiple short-term placements